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Amazon.co.uk Review
If at first, Mogwai's sixth album The Hawk Is Howling feels mostly remarkable for its song titles––what other quote-unquote 'experimental' band would christen their majestic soundscapes with names like "Daphne and the Brain", "The Sun Smells Too Loud", or "I Love You, I'm Going to Blow up Your School"?––repeated listens see this record find a neat place in the band's canon, somewhere between the sonic bliss of Happy Songs for Happy People and the intricate melancholia of Mr Beast. Solely instrumental, it's an album that follows the latter-day Mogwai template of gently undulating peaks and troughs, rather than mountains and precipices. Which might sound less than scintillating, but these days Mogwai are less about dynamite dynamics and more about intricate melodies and songs that slowly, but grandly, wind their way to conclusions. The opening "I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead" starts with a gentle minor-key keyboard piece by Barry Burns, but gradually builds in mass to a white-out of sparkling guitars. "The Sun Smells Too Loud" is a more synthetic-sounding piece doused in thick, fuzzy effects and yearning melodies. Meanwhile, "Batcat" proves the band can still flex a muscle, a squalling barnstormer with a Hassidic-tinged melody that recalls "My Father, My King". ––Louis Pattison
Review
In an age where classic rock's stock remains high, the term 'post-rock' seems to be quaintly over-optimistic: like a science fiction story from 1970 where they predicted that by the 90s we'd all be living on Mars and snacking on pills. In the distant past it seemed bands like Slint, Tortoise and Godspeed You! Black Emperor were offering us a way out of sullen reactionary old guitar band land. No such luck. In 2008 - 11 years on from their debut - Mogwai, Scotland's very own purveyors of lyric free, soaring, measured droneism don't seem that bothered. The Hawk Is Howling exists in a parallel universe where brains, emotions and rock music are set to a higher purpose. Their build-sustain-release pattern of swirling, stately bludgeoning rock is in fine fettle. But who's listening?
This sixth studio album follows on from their 2006 soundtrack work for a biopic on French footballer, Zidane and sees them return to the vaguely jazzy meandering from beauty to chaos that marks their best work. It's not all strurm und drang, mind you. Opener, I'm Jim Morrison, I'm Dead, starts with drifting ambient piano before setting the controls for meltdown. Others just drift by, confounding expectations (Kings Meadow), or - on the fantastically named I Love You, I'm Going To Blow Up Your School - trick you into thinking you're safe, only to kick your head in in the last couple of minutes.
On The Sun Smells Too Loud the band actually get close to what we would consider a hummable tune, backed by some rather conventional drumming. Unfortunately it's a low point, but not much of a dip considering how bracing it all is. Like standing atop Glen Nevis in a force ten gale; The Hawk Is Howling is both invigorating and reminds you that post rock may have its very own cliches, but they're ones worth reiterating, for fear that we become too comfortable. Thank goodness someone's still doing this stuff. --Chris Jones
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Who needs words?,
By
This review is from: The Hawk Is Howling (Audio CD)
Someone clearly a whole lot smarter than me once wrote that music, at its best, is "...a polite reminder of the limitations of language". A beautiful phrase, which stuck with me.
At their magnificent best, Mogwai have brought that polite (a less than apt word in the context of Mogwai's music, I grant you) reminder to mind many times since "Young Team" offered an exciting alternative to the dying embers of Britpop 11 years ago. That and every subsequent release have been studded with moments that have enough power and beauty to leave listeners awestruck. What makes "The Hawk is Howling" Mogwai's most satisfying recording to-date is that over its 63 minutes or so, the feeling of awe it generates refuses to leave you. There are simply no tracks here destined for the skip button on future listens. The opening track, "I'm Jim Morrisson, I'm Dead", devastates with it's sheer momentum and from there on, through a number of fluctuating moods, the album takes you on a journey you'll want to repeat many, many times. By the time the truly majestic wash of "Scotland's Shame", the eighth track here, was enveloping me, all thoughts of resistance were futile and Mogwai seemed like the only band who ever mattered. They aren't of course, in as much as nobody is, but it can certainly feel that way at times. Others, i.e. Explosions in the Sky or Godspeed... have offered great work in the time since Slint's "Spiderland". However, Mogwai have always displayed a real understanding of how to get to the point economically and how to use melody to generate real emotion. These ten pieces synthesise all they have learned and that alone should be recommendation enough. I know I'll be revisiting this beautiful album for the rest of my life.
7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Simply Sublime,
By
This review is from: The Hawk Is Howling (Audio CD)
I recently recieved a promo copy of this cd and I have to tell you its fantastic. The songs are slightly longer and darker than that of the 'mr beast' album (by no means a bad album, but to these ears, mogwais weakest to date).
This album manages to be both what you'd expect, yet at the same time still has teh ability to suprise: Dark, haunting opener 'Im jim morrison, im dead' is built around teh time honoured build/repition theme with a maudlin piano thrown in, 'batcat' is scuzzy and dirgy while 'daphne and the brain' is short and full of brilliant electro flecks (that do indeed pepper parts of teh album to great affect) the real stand out tracks for me though are the melancholic post rock of 'scotland's shame' which builds nicely, like an instrumental A PERFECT CIRLCE song I suppose, with good use of wah guitar towards the end for tension....and 'The sun smells too loud' which is now my fave mogwai song. it starts with a sequenced synth bass and electro percussion straight from the 80s and then just goes straight into the stratosphere! It's bizarely up lifting/uptempo for mogwai, you can even dance to it! Its also got some lovely repeating guitar lines. Go buy!!!!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
This reviewer is liking,
By
This review is from: The Hawk Is Howling (Audio CD)
I hadn't heard any Mogwai before. Listened to this album on their myspace page and really liked. Sometimes happy but mostly moody soundtracks to films never made but probably should have been. I can imagine Shane Meadows making a film with a Mogwai soundtrack.
A bit of Sonic Youth, a bit of shoegazing, a bit of Pink Floyd, it even reminds me a bit of some Pat Metheny stuff. Whatever it is it's worth listening too. Buy without hesitation if you like proper grown up sounds.
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